Visa and Mastercard Suspend Operations in Russia as Part of Sanctions Over Ukraine – Visa and Mastercard, two of the world’s largest payment processors, have joined sanctions against Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine. American corporations have stated that they will cease operations in Russia, however Russians will be able to use their cards within the nation.
As part of the worldwide response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, payment companies Visa and Mastercard have suspended business in Russia. The financial services organizations based in the United States announced on Saturday that they will work with clients and partners to stop transactions through their systems.
“All transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the nation, and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation,” Visa said after taking the appropriate procedures.
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“We feel forced to act in response to Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine and the inexcusable actions we have watched,” said Al Kelly, CEO of Visa Inc. He also expressed remorse for the impact on Visa’s Russian clients, partners, and cardholders.
Mastercard’s services are also being suspended in Russia. “The world has observed the terrible and devastating events coming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for more than a week,” it stated in a statement.
Mastercard stated that it had lately excluded a number of financial institutions from its payment network due to legal requirements, and went on to explain:
“The Mastercard network will no longer accept cards issued by Russian banks. Furthermore, any Mastercard issued outside of Russia will not be accepted by Russian businesses or ATMs.”
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In a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Joe Biden praised Visa and Mastercard’s decisions. He also stressed that the White House is expanding security, humanitarian, and economic aid to Ukraine while working with the US Congress to gain extra financing, according to a press statement cited by Reuters.
According to Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko, Visa and Mastercard took action after Zelensky encouraged the two payment processors to suspend transactions of their credit and debit cards issued by Russian banks. The Ukrainian president demanded the sanctions in order to put further pressure on Moscow.
